Maria Minerva, Not Not Fun space disco songstress, gears up for first-ever US tour in support of new album

Estonia-born, London-livin’ grad student and purveyor of spaced-out Tomorrowland (as in Disney’s 1960s take on the 21st-century future) disco Maria Minerva is back with another LP for the always scintillating Not Not Fun label. And this time, she’s washing up on North American shores for her first-ever US tour! Will Happiness Find Me? is the name of the lady’s new 11-track LP, and in the land where the pursuit of life, liberty, and American flag pins reigns supreme, let’s hope the answer to that question is in the affirmative.

The latest from Tallinn native Ms. Minerva (or Maria Juur, as she’s known to her parents, professors, pals, and the non-internet world) drops September 4, and then it’s off to New York for a month-long journey through the New World, complete with stops at the VFW in Missoula, Seattle’s Decibel Festival, and a place in Columbus, OH called Ace of Cups, which is just a straight-out amazing name. She’ll be sharing stages with Julianna Barwick, Helado Negro, Moon Duo, and other similarly inspired retro futurists before heading back to Europe. Check out “Fire,” a track from the new album featuring rapper Chase Royal:

Estonia-born, London-livin’ grad student and purveyor of spaced-out Tomorrowland (as in Disney’s 1960s take on the 21st-century future) disco Maria Minerva is back with another LP for the always scintillating Not Not Fun label. And this time, she’s washing up on North American shores for her first-ever US tour! Will Happiness Find Me? is the name of the lady’s new 11-track LP, and in the land where the pursuit of life, liberty, and American flag pins reigns supreme, let’s hope the answer to that question is in the affirmative.

The latest from Tallinn native Ms. Minerva (or Maria Juur, as she’s known to her parents, professors, pals, and the non-internet world) drops September 4, and then it’s off to New York for a month-long journey through the New World, complete with stops at the VFW in Missoula, Seattle’s Decibel Festival, and a place in Columbus, OH called Ace of Cups, which is just a straight-out amazing name. She’ll be sharing stages with Julianna Barwick, Helado Negro, Moon Duo, and other similarly inspired retro futurists before heading back to Europe. Check out “Fire,” a track from the new album featuring rapper Chase Royal:

Last week, new school post-punk label Captured Tracks announced the formation of their old school post-punk imprint, Body Double Ltd. A wet dream of tight black pants-wearers everywhere, the newborn baby label features a logo that is suitably Bauhaus-lookin’, and will be headed by Corey Cunningham of Terry Malts and Matt Kallman from Girls’ touring band. The imprint leans specifically toward 1980s post-punk reissues, so get ready for lots of synth tracks about Margaret Thatcher’s domestic policies. J/K! 1980s post-punk isn’t THAT easy to pigeonhole — there could be songs about Reagan, too.

Body Double Ltd.’s first two releases will include Hollywood drum machine enthusiasts Blissed Out Fatalists’ self-titled album and super cheery Bay Area rockers Half Church’s In Turmoil EP (which will come out with five additional bonus tracks). Both releases drop November 13 via CD, LP, and digital download. You can peep teaser tracks from the forthcoming releases at the Body Double website.

Frank Ocean — whose genre-mangled and deliciously-colored debut album Channel Orange (TMT Review) came out this summer — will be performing one or more of his live-audience-approved songs in front of a live audience while being filmed and recorded by various personnel working for the non-cable television network NBC this coming September 15, 2012. The performances will commence at a time antecedent to 11:30 EST, and Tiny Mix Tapes is happy to announce that this broadcast pre-qualifies as great news for people who have heretofore enjoyed Ocean’s recorded music output and are interested in seeing a small portion of that music reconstituted by live performers without having to leave their own homes, neighborhood bars, ER waiting rooms, etc. To reiterate, this is a non-repeating, once-in-a-lifetime, never-to-be-restaged event that popular opinion would suggest is not to be missed.

THAT IS A…

Oh, no, wait, we forgot to mention: before, during, and after all this, some comedy troupe will do skits while Seth MacFarlane hangs out and does voices that all sound a lot like one another.

Some people love roller coasters, and others love hot air balloons. Some people love water slides, and others love above-ground pools. Brian Kinsman loves haunted houses. He plays in the noise drum circle Foot Village and grew up in Burbank, CA, where he spent every Halloween exploring mazes that neighbors would construct in their backyards. When he returned to Burbank just a few years ago, he found people building haunts just like he remembered, and some of them would even stay open for a multiple weekends. He’d visit them over and over again.

This year, Kinsman decided to make a series of mini-documentaries about the people who build haunts, and his first one follows Albert Reyes from El Sereno, CA. Reyes has had a haunt in his backyard for almost 10 years, and he transforms it so that the experience changes according to the season. I can’t tell from the trailer (see below), but maybe in December he hides a record player that plays the same line of a choral Christmas song again and again, and maybe in February he paints creepy graffiti valentines on the walls. Regardless, he’s always inspired by abandoned buildings.

The film comes out in October on Kinsman’s website, and if you sign up for the mailing list, you’ll not only be among the first to see the film, but you’ll also receive a free copy of the score, composed by S.R. Cano of tik///tik. In the meantime, check out part one of the score for free! Also, how about getting a head start on your Halloween costume? Maybe a pterodactyl?

Underground rap fixture Aesop Rock was gone for a while, but now he’s back. Well, he wasn’t entirely gone, what with him releasing a record as Hail Mary Mallon, his group with Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz. He was partially gone, as he hadn’t put out a solo record since 2007’s None Shall Pass. The point is, he’s totally back now, having put out his new record Skelethon (TMT Review) mere months ago via Rhymesayers. Now you know the story, chumps! Maybe you knew the story before.

But wait chumps! There’s more!

This fall, Aesop Rock will be embarking on a couple of jaunts through North America. In a few days, he’ll head out on a West Coast trip. After that, he’ll soak his feet in a fine soaking tub, only to emerge again for a more Midwest/East Coast-focused trip. He will do some raps and it will be a fine time, you chumps.